Dali ' Many Guises of Woman ' at the Salvador Dali Museum

Written by Garfield Atkinson Tuesday, 19 July 2011 22:15

St. Petersburg, FL - A selection of 70 works from the permanent collection (painting, drawing, watercolors, prints and objects) representative Dalí’s various creations of the female image. The selected works help trace the progression of Dalí’s depiction of women from his early student days - images of various women as models in academic studies - to a later period when Gala becomes his chief model and muse.

As a young man, the artist’s sister Ana María was a prominent model. Girl's Back (1926) depicts Ana Maria’s head as viewed from behind in a Renaissance style. By 1928, Dalí is searching for a more experimental style – and the woman in The Bather  takes on disconcerting transformations and fragmentations. Dalí's treatment of the female during the Surrealist period varies, at times imbued with a disturbing eroticism, or evoking maternal and the “eternal feminine” interpretations based on mythological figures.

 In a mid-career work, Enchanted Beach with Three Fluid Graces (1938), Dalí treats the three female figures as the Three Fates.The surrealist and Freudian muse Gradiva becomes the spectral image of a woman as the object of obsession and the repressed forces of unconscious desire. His wife, Gala who becomes his exclusive model, is shown in this exhibition to gather all the many guises of woman.

The exhibition is curated by Joan Kropf and Dirk Armstrong.  On exhibition 13 June -21 September, 2008.

The Salvador Dalí Museum shall educate the public and promote understanding, enjoyment and scholarly examination of art through the exhibition of works by Dalí and artists of similar vision. The Salvador Dalí Museum shall preserve and expand its collection of art of Dalí and related archival material.

The Dali Museum is the flagship of cultural tourism on the West Coast of Florida and welcomes over 200,000 visitors each year from around the world. Serving the Florida community, 10,000 students are admitted without charge annually. Our education programs produce study guides and web information for students and teachers. Two film series, lectures and concerts supplement the themes of the exhibitions.  Visit : www.salvadordalimuseum.org/

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